Kalynda Davis' life back to normal after China jail ordeal

Kalynda Davis is settling back into life in Sydney after spending a month in jail in China at the end of last year before being cleared of any wrongdoing.

By Rachel Olding

Updated24 January 2015 — 9:47pmfirst published at 9:30pm

Australian Peter Gardner continues to languish in a Chinese jail as his travel companion settles back into life in Sydney's western suburbs after an extraordinary drug-smuggling ordeal.

Kalynda Davis, who made international headlines when she was stopped at Guangzhou airport following the discovery of 30 kilograms of ice in luggage, has spent the summer recovering from the ordeal with trips to the beach and new photos showing off the short bob haircut forced upon her while in jail.

Spent the summer recovering: Kalynda Davis.

Her friend and travel partner, Mr Gardner, 25, is approaching his third month in a Guangzhou detention centre without being charged.

Chinese authorities have stopped commenting on his case and his family, from Richmond in Sydney's north-west, declined to talk.

The dual citizen travelled on his New Zealand passport and the country's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said on Friday it was still providing consular assistance and checking on his wellbeing.

Advertisement

"Mr Gardner remains in custody and has legal representation," a MFAT spokesman said. "The ministry cannot comment on the ongoing investigation or intervene in the judicial proceedings of another country."

Ms Davis' lawyer, Paul Blunt, said she would not be talking publicly about her ordeal. He had heard nothing about Mr Gardner's progress in the complex Chinese justice system.

After returning to her Glenmore Park home with father, Larry, and mother, Jenny, the 22-year-old has celebrated with friends, hit the beach and returned to work at an insurance company.

Her Facebook page, which was quickly shut down when she was arrested along with all other online traces of her, has been filled with happy snaps and discussion of how best to embrace her new hairstyle.

Her best friend, Dan Stella, said it had been like "winning the lotto" to be able to spend a day at a Newcastle beach with Ms Davis this month, to which she replied: "Makes each time we spent together so much more special."

Ms Davis and Mr Gardner made a last-minute trip to China on November 5 before a planned holiday to New Zealand. When she didn't return to Sydney after the three-day trip to Guangzhou, her family filed a missing persons report.

Days later, they were horrified to discover she had been detained after customs pulled her and Mr Gardner aside at the airport and found 60 vacuum-sealed bags of methylamphetamine in two pieces of luggage with the zips super-glued shut.

After four weeks in a jail cell, she was suddenly released in December. Officials said they were satisfied she had no knowledge of Mr Gardner's alleged enterprise.

Her father said she was shackled in a small cell, not allowed any contact with the outside world and had her long, blonde hair cropped.

International law expert Kevin Boreham, of Australian National University, said it was not necessarily a bad sign that he was reaching three months in custody.

"It is wrong by our standards and by human rights standards but it's not unusual for China," he said. "You're dealing with a country that makes up the rules as they go along and is not transparent."

He said it was wise to keep the case ticking along quietly, unlike the cases of Schapelle Corby and Peter Greste, which were accompanied by vocal public campaigns.

"The systems in Indonesia and Egypt are more porous but in China you're dealing with a closed system where officials aren't accountable ... so they could well have been advised not to antagonise the Chinese."